Antarctica
is a great place to travel to as part of a group or
special interest tour.
Whether with a group of friends, or members of a club,
society, university, college or school, we can help you
to put your expedition together to the far end of the
world.

Antarctica
is the source of literally thousands of projects in schools
across the world every year (I know this as students
and teachers visit Cool Antarctica and email me about it
- a lot!). So I thought how about putting together
a package so that instead of going to the local field-studies
centre or a more traditional destination, a school or other
group could plan

A group
or educational visit to Antarctica

We offer a range of
flexible packages in conjunction with Antarctica Bound who
are able to negotiate advantageous group rates for a number
of people travelling together. If the group is sufficiently
large, we may be able to provide an escort for the group
to facilitate transfers and other sundry arrangements.

Our packages are airport-to-airport
wherever you happen to be starting from, get your group
to the airport you specify when booking and we'll do
the rest until you get to the same place to go home
again.

Our trips have one free place in
every 19 (or 2 for half price in 20 as you see fit
to arrange it) or better according to the particular
trip and ship.

2 landings a day ashore while in
Antarctica is normal, depending on local conditions,
so there's plenty of opportunity to experience Antarctica
from the ground as well as from the ship - sailing through
ice-berg strewn seas while looking out for seals, whales
and being followed by an albatross for example!

There is an "open bridge"
policy on expedition ships for most of the time,
so passengers can get the best view of where the ship
is going and see how it all operates.

The overall atmosphere on the ship
is very relaxed, mealtimes are informal and there's
plenty of variety of food available to suit even the
pickiest palette!

The ships we use are comfortable
and capable means of delivering adventure to their passengers
rather than being glamorous cruise ships. All cabins
have an outside view and usually their own bathroom
facilities. Occasionally cabins may have facilities
shared with usually no more than 2-3 other cabins.

Each voyage is seen very much as
an educational experience for all passengers - field
work ashore is not possible however.

Groups are included amongst sailings
as they are booked, so a group may be the only one
aboard with the other passengers being of varied ages
and nationalities, or there may be more than one group
at a time.

There are daily lectures organized
that explain about where the ship is that day and what
may be seen in the vicinity and ashore during the days
excursions. These are given by experienced naturalists,
historians, photographers and other experts in their
fields, these guides will also accompany trips ashore.

Children on the voyages are allowed
everywhere other passengers are allowed to go including
the bar area where drinks may be purchased (non-alcoholic
of course).

Who would
a trip to Antarctic be suitable for?

Trips to Antarctica are most suitable for accompanied
educational groups where the students are at least
14 years old at the time of departure. Younger
students would probably find the lack of other suitable
entertainment onboard not to their taste.

It should be noted that while an
Antarctic cruise provides its own ever changing
backdrop with wildlife accompaniment that this is
very much a sight-seeing trip to experience the
wonder of Antarctica first hand. There are organized
lectures on board on a regular basis, other entertainment
consists mainly of socializing with other trip passengers
over meals and in the evenings.

The time spent in Antarctica is
paramount - there are no tv's in cabins for example
or other traditional teenager-type entertainments.
This is not the kind of cruise where the time is
spent alternately eating and being entertained on
board all day long!

I wanted to
go all along really, what's it cost and what do we get
to do?

There are a number of
trips that would be suitable for educational groups. Those
leaving from Ushuaia in Argentina and visiting the peninsula
region are the most suitable due to access by commercial
flights, the shorter duration of the trips and reduced cost
compared to trips that leave from Australia or New Zealand.

For a sample itinerary
based on the ship M/S Expedition (pictured above)
click here